Living Montessori Now

Montessori Inspiration for Parents and Teachers

Christmas Around the World: Scotland

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Welcome to Christmas Around the World: Scotland! If you missed the first part of the series, be sure to check out the wonderful intro post and free eBook at 123 Homeschool 4 Me! You’ll find a linky there, too, with all the other posts on this Christmas journey around the world!

Christmas Around the World - Scotland

Scotland: Part of the United Kingdom

Many people aren’t aware that Scotland is one of four countries in the united country called the United Kingdom (UK) or Great Britain. The four countries of the UK are England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

United Kingdom Pin Map

United Kingdom Pin Map

If you’d like to introduce the geography of the United Kingdom and prepare a pin map of the four countries of the United Kingdom or of the United Kingdom in relation to the rest of Europe, you’ll find ideas and directions in my post last summer about Montessori-inspired Olympic Opening Ceremony activities.

A Few Language Differences

I was lucky to have spent some time in Scotland when my daughter, Christina, competed for Great Britain in ice dance with her Scottish partner, Mark Hanretty. Christina and Mark trained in Sheffield, England, but both Christina and I were able to visit Scotland a number of times. For much of the information about Christmas in Scotland, I interviewed Mark to verify my impressions and get first-hand information. I always found the language differences between the Scottish and Americans fascinating. Even the general Christmas greeting is different. Although Americans say “Merry Christmas,” Scottish (and English) typically say “Happy Christmas.” I thought it was interesting that dinner in Scotland is called “tea” and dessert is called “pudding,” even if it’s cake, ice cream, or another dessert besides what Americans think of as pudding.

Christmas Cards in the United Kingdom

I noticed that people in the United Kingdom in general are more likely than Americans to give cards rather than gifts to friends and acquaintances. According to Mark, “We would give cards to all friends but only gifts to nearest and dearest.” In honor of the UK and Scottish tradition of giving Christmas cards, you could prepare one or two Montessori-inspired Christmas card-marking trays. If you want to observe the Scottish Christmas, write “Happy Christmas” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

Rick Rack Card Tray

Rick Rack Card Tray

The rick-rack tree cards would work well for a number of ages. With younger children, you might need to have each set of rick-rack strips together so your child can simply place the strips in order to glue on the folded cardstock card. I used a gem star from a hobby store for the star at the top. The rick rack card idea originally came from Martha Stewart, but I found it at Learning Ideas – Grades K-8.

Metal Inset Tree Pin Punching Tray

Metal Inset Tree Pin Punching Tray

The metal inset tree pin punching tray uses the Montessori triangle inset. If you don’t have a set of metal insets, you can print out the triangle metal inset card from The Helpful Garden. I just used green glitter paper to give a holiday feel to my template. It’s thick enough to work for most preschoolers, although some could need foam-board templates to trace the triangle shape for the tree.

You can buy punching materials from Montessori Services. Or you can use a 1/4″ thick felt pad, an old mouse pad, a carpet piece, or corkboard underneath the pin punching. I used gems from the hobby store for the tree decorations, although sequins would work well, too.

Christmas in Scotland

According to Mark, Christmas in Scotland has become fairly Americanized.

  • Most Scots celebrate Santa Claus and open presents on Christmas Day. Most Scots are Christian, but Mark said, “I think it’s decreasingly popular to go to church on Christmas Day.” My impression is that attending church services is more common in the United States than in Scotland or the UK in general.
  • The main Christmas meal varies quite a bit from the U.S. Mark said, “The main Christmas meal tends to be early afternoon around the time of the queens speech which is televised at 3pm every year.”
  • When I asked about some of the main foods eaten at Christmas in Scotland, Mark said they’re: “Very rich, stodgy foods! Turkey and stuffing is the most commonly eaten Christmas dinner. Pigs in blankets are a common side dish (sausages wrapped in bacon). Soup is also a very common Scottish favourite and the scotch broth is an old fashioned staple. There is a pudding called “cloutie dumpling“. It is a rich fruit cake which is steamed for an hour or more. Often it is wrapped in a tea towel within a large pan of boiling water to bake. Occasionally coins of money are wrapped within baking paper and cooked within the pudding as good luck.”
  • Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26, although it’s “becoming a day celebrated for shopping. I think Americans celebrate Black Friday which I suspect is similar.”

Hogmanay

I don’t want to talk about Christmas in Scotland without talking about New Year’s Eve, or Hogmanay. It used to be more popular than Christmas in Scotland, although Christmas has gained in popularity over the years.

Fireworks over the Edinburgth Castle at Midnight.

Fireworks over the Edinburgth Castle at Midnight.

Christina and I were lucky enough to attend the Hogmanay celebration with Mark and his Scottish friends over the 2005-2006 New Year. Hogmanay is still a huge celebration in Scotland with a street festival and concert in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and the seat of the Scottish parliament and government. A number of the Scottish men wear kilts for the event. At midnight, there are fireworks over the Edinburgh castle.

Scottish Music

Even though this isn’t from Christmas, I have to end with a bit of Scottish bagpipe music. The Great Highland Bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. This video of Christina and Mark is from the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships. The Original Dance in 2010 was folk dance, so Christina and Mark skated to Scottish folk music featuring the bagpipe. You’ll also notice the traditional Scottish tartan in their costumes along with moves that are inspired by Scottish folk dance.

Christmas Around the World

Be sure to visit 123 Homeschool 4 Me tomorrow for the next stop on the tour of Christmas Around the World! 🙂

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Deb says

      Thanks, Lina! My trays are just inexpensive wooden trays from a hobby store (Michaels). Have a wonderful New Year! 🙂

  7. Maria says

    Thoroughly enjoyed reading this – and seeing your gorgeous daughter skating! I knew she did, but perhaps this is the first video I’ve watched? Wonderful! Very talented. And such a dedicated mother to enable her dreams.

    From, the Edinburgh of the South 😉

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Maria! I loved that our kids’ skating gave our whole family (including my parents and aunts) amazing experiences. 🙂

  8. Joyce says

    Oh, I love the activities. Especially that ric rac tree! So cute! and I learned a lot. It was really interesting to read about Christmas in Scotland. Thank you for sharing!

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much, Joyce! I fell in love with the rick rack tree when I first saw it, and it was fun for me as an adult to put together. 🙂

  9. Beth says

    LOVE this! Learned a lot. Perfect craft and the video was awesome. My kids got a big kick out of it.

    Thanks for sharing it and joining us in Christmas Around the World!!
    Beth =-)

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much, Beth! I’m glad you enjoyed the video … I have to smile every time I watch it. I’ve loved the Christmas Around the World series … thanks so much for all your work at putting it together. 🙂

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much! Interesting that you were in tune with the Scots … it’s a different time than my family ever had meals and I thought the reason behind the time was fascinating!

  12. Carokyn Wilhelm says

    Oh, Deb, that is so interesting to me. I guess I was looking at your Olympic Monressori activities and made an assumption. I never understand why athletss from one country compete for a different one except for individual cases. I do not understand all the rules. And, I was assuming due to her wonderful skating! She is fabulous! You are such a great mother to nurture your children’s talents as you did. You were and are a very committed parent!

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Carolyn! It’s difficult for everyone directly involved to even know all the rules … and many of the rules keep changing! It did require commitment to follow our kids’ interests, but it was definitely worth it! 🙂

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much, Carolyn! Actually, Christina wasn’t able to skate in the Olympics because she wasn’t a British citizen. But it was an amazing experience for our whole family to have her skate at Worlds. Worlds is the same level as the Olympics, but Worlds is held once a year instead of once every four years. The citizenship requirements are different for Worlds for pair and dance teams. Since Mark is a British citizen, Christina could compete for Great Britain. 🙂

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much, MaryAnne! It’s awesome that your daughter was born in Edinburgh! I was only able to attend Hogmanay once, but my family and I were able to attend two Edinburgh Fringe Festivals … so much fun! 🙂

  15. Cerys says

    What a great post – one of my goals is to spend a Christmas in Scotland so that we ca guarantee snow (only had 2 White Christmas mornings in England in my 34 years). I’m joining the series on Saturday with England and will link to this post 🙂

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much for your kind comment and for linking to my post this Saturday, Cerys! I have so many great memories from England and look forward to reading your post! 🙂